Hollywood truly judged a film by its own merits Sunday night. Now, Best Director Oscar winner Roman Polanski -- who skipped the ceremony because of an outstanding statutory rape conviction in California -- has given his belated thanks to the Academy.

Polanski, 69, who lives in exile in France and could be arrested if he ever returns to the U.S., issued a statement Monday showing his appreciation for the Oscar win for his World War II Holocaust drama "The Pianist," which came away with three trophies Sunday, including Best Actor for Adrien Brody and Best Adapted Screenplay for Ronald Harwood.

"I am deeply touched to have received the Oscar for Best Director for a film which recounts events which are so close to my personal experience, events which helped me to understand that art can transcend pain," said Polanski, whose own mother died in a concentration camp during World War II. "I thank the members of the Academy with all my heart."

Polanski's Best Director win was considered a major upset, as many in Hollywood wondered whether Academy voters could overlook his 1978 felony conviction for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. Although his victim (Samantha Geimer, now 39) wrote a letter to the Los Angeles Times urging voters to make their decision based on the movie -- not his past crime -- Polanski's chances seemed to slip away when The Smoking Gun Web site recently published her unsealed 1977 deposition recounting the details of the incident.

The filmmaker's situation even prompted a crack from Oscar host Steve Martin Sunday night: "Look, there's Roman Polanski ... Get him!"

Polanski's film chronicles the ordeal of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jewish musician who survived Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Polanski was born in France to Jewish parents, and returned to Poland before World War II, notes Reuters. Szpilman's son hailed the awards Monday as an "homage to World War II victims."

On Monday morning, the happy director told Variety's Amy Archerd his phone had been ringing off the hook. "I didn't know I had so many friends," he said. He watched the awards show from the Plaza Hotel in Paris, he said, "with friends -- who have nothing to do with the business -- and there we were, opening champagne at 6 o'clock in the morning."

Polanski received earlier directing nominations for 1974's "Chinatown and 1979's "Tess," and a screenwriting nomination for "Rosemary's Baby."